


Guilty Pleasures Make the Best Presents

by orphan_account



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, It's the little things, M/M, Post 2016-2017 Season, bath bombs, romance is not dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 15:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11466015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sid doesn’t exactly hate baths. He’s just never understood the purpose of sitting in your own filth for a long period of time. Ice baths are different, though. They’re for medical purposes and they’re cold, not steaming hot with bubbles all around. Even then, lying around in an ice bath can get uncomfortable after a little while. Medical purposes or not, he’s still sitting in his own dirt and grime.Needless to say, he finds baths disgusting.





	Guilty Pleasures Make the Best Presents

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted this on nomorelonelydays' tumblr, but i decided to transfer it over here. just some cute ass fluff and romance :)

Sid doesn’t exactly _hate_ baths. He’s just never understood the purpose of sitting in your own filth for a long period of time. Ice baths are different, though. They’re for medical purposes and they’re cold, not steaming hot with bubbles all around. Even then, lying around in an ice bath can get uncomfortable after a little while. Medical purposes or not, he’s still sitting in his own dirt and grime.

Needless to say, he finds baths disgusting.

But then Taylor comes to Halifax to visit for the summer, and there are these stupid little bath bombs and bubble bars everywhere. She has closed off an entire section of the bathroom cabinets just for her (in Sid’s completely unbiased opinion) strong-smelling balls of death. She uses his massive bath tub three times a week and leaves the bathroom smelling like flowers and citrus, and Sid is—not going to say a word to his baby sister because he is way too nice for his own good. When she leaves, though, she’s left a couple of bath bombs behind. Sid is debating on throwing them away or giving them to one of the guys’ wives or girlfriends, but he is intrigued at one bath bomb that looks slightly tempting. It’s white with brown swirls in it and is very aesthetically pleasing.

And it smells really fucking good—like vanilla and cinnamon. He’s sold.

Sid waits until a week has passed and uses the bath bomb. He has to look up instructions on how to make the damn thing work, but when he finally gets it open and places it in the water, he’s mesmerized by the foamy and fizzy ball spinning around the tub. He finally settles into the bath and is intoxicated by the smell and the way the bomb looks. It’s definitely relaxing, that’s for sure. If Sid is going to be completely honest, this is the most relaxed he’s felt in a long while. He settles back into the tub and decides to read a book so he doesn’t feel entirely useless. By the time he’s finished about five or six chapters of his book, he’s been in the tub for over an hour and a half.

_Huh. So that’s why people stay in here for so long._

And thus begins Sidney Crosby’s secret guilty pleasure of taking baths and using those stupid bath bombs.

* * *

 

Zhenya catches on to Sid’s secret love for baths fairly early on, but he chooses to let Sid have that time to himself. It’s not often that his boyfriend gets to be lazy and fully relax by himself, so he leaves it be. That is, until a package comes in for Sid—containing five different bath bombs. Zhenya furrows his eyebrows and is confused until he remembers that Taylor wanted some for her birthday. Except her birthday was a month ago. And no one else takes baths in the Crosby family except for—

_Oh._

Zhenya chuckles quietly to himself and closes the box, leaving it on Sidney’s bathroom counter.

* * *

Zhenya begins to feel curious about the fizzy bath bombs himself after Taylor tells him about all the different ones that Sid seems to like (she’s his sister; of course she’s picked up on Sid’s newfound bath habits). He wants to buy Sid some bath bombs for Valentine’s Day, and Taylor chirps him for the cliché idea. She helps him anyway, and Zhenya is thankful. There’s too many options and he has no idea what Sid likes when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Curiosity eventually gets the best of Zhenya before too long, and he decides to try one out himself. He takes one of the bombs that Taylor left during the Christmas holidays when he has an off-day and Sid is out fulfilling endorsement commitments. He notices that this one is wrapped differently than the other ones he’s seen left behind by the Crosby siblings. Zhenya decides to give it a try anyway. He likes the holiday scent it leaves behind and feels himself slipping into a state of serenity.

He is really enjoying himself until he feels something pop up from the crumbling bath bomb. He jumps and notices that there is a plastic ball, like the ones he’s seen in gumball machines, floating around the water. He raises an eyebrow and picks it up. He manages to pop it open and sees—

A ring? What the hell is a ring doing in a bath bomb?

It’s a pretty looking ring, most likely inexpensive and definitely fake, but it’s pretty looking nonetheless. It’s a silver band with three clear stones on either side of a larger purple stone and absolutely too small for any of his fingers. He debates whether to call Taylor and ask her about this strange bath bomb before finally deciding that she is the best person to talk to.

“Hello?” Taylor asks when Zhenya calls her later that night.

“Hey. It’s Geno,” Zhenya replies.

“Hey! What’s up?”

“I’m have a serious question.”

“Geno, if this is related to your love life and/or sex life to my brother, that’s a hard pass.” Zhenya rolls his eyes.

“No, not about Sid. It’s about strange bath thing.” Taylor hums slowly.

“The bath bombs?”

“Yes.”

“What about them?”

“Well, is just one. I try one, see what is like. I like it very much, but I’m confused because there was ring inside it.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a new type of bath bomb. Every bath bomb from these specific companies all have a ring in them. It’s actually pretty cool. You can actually try to win a $10,000 ring and get a bunch of other cool stuff. Was the ring in the bath bomb pretty?” Zhenya looks down at the ring in his hand again and his heart strings pull slightly.

“Yes. Very pretty.”

“Send me a picture when you get a chance. Hey, I gotta go. Practice starts in about twenty minutes. Tell Sid I said hey.” They say their goodbyes and Zhenya is left staring at the ring for a long time. Sid isn’t big on jewelry. He’s practical with what he wears: the necklace that he’s had since forever and his Rolex that he bought not long after joining the NHL. He’s simple. Always has been. A ring wouldn’t be a bad addition. Maybe platinum with some black stones along the top. Or even just normal diamonds that are so subtle, someone can miss them if they don’t look close enough. Sid isn’t flashy, so something giant wouldn’t be worth blowing money on. And Sid won’t just wear a ring because Zhenya wants him to. There has to be a significant reason, like—

Oh. _Oh._

Zhenya can’t help but grin at the thought. A small ceremony in Halifax by the lake in the backyard of Sidney’s lake house. Family and close friends. Black and white suits. Taylor by Sidney’s side and Denis by Zhenya’s. All the penguins, current and former, sitting in the crowd. Sidney smiling at Zhenya. Zhenya smiling back.

Exchanging vows.

Exchanging rings.

Exchanging last names.

Becoming one.

Zhenya wants it all.

And he wants it all with Sidney.

Zhenya picks up his phone and quickly begins making calls.

* * *

Three months later, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are two-time Stanley Cup champions.

Sidney is bone tired by the time he and Zhenya get home from the parade. While everyone else is out still partying and getting wild, the captain and his alternate are staying in. They’ve had a long season, and they want to do nothing but shut the world out and enjoy each other’s company. When the front door closes, Zhenya cups Sidney’s face in his massive hands and kisses him slowly. Sidney hums happily into the kiss and wraps his arms around Zhenya’s neck.

“Have surprise for you,” Zhenya mumbles between kisses.

“Is that so?” Sidney replies. He toes out of his shoes while still kissing Zhenya and throws his baseball cap onto the couch.

“Mhm. Go upstairs. I’m be there in a minute.” Sid looks at Zhenya and purposely bites his bottom lip. Such a tease, Zhenya thinks. “Go, Sid.” Sid pouts playfully before standing on his tiptoes and kissing Zhenya quickly and running upstairs. Zhenya watches Sid—well, Sid’s ass, at least—ascend the steps before running to the guest bathroom downstairs in search for what he needs. He breathes a sigh of relief when he finds the box with black and gold wrapping paper and goes up to Sid’s room. As soon as Zhenya opens the bedroom door, his jaw drops when he sees Sidney, naked and lying seductively on the bed. He’s smirking at Zhenya and says, almost tauntingly:

“I don’t know about you, but two months with no sex is not ok with me.”

Zhenya places the neatly wrapped box on the dresser and shreds himself of his clothes. He runs and jumps on top of a laughing Sidney and laughs with him in between gentle kisses.

* * *

“I don’t think I can go another round, Zhenya,” Sid whines as Zhenya’s hand rubs Sid’s thigh. They’ve already had sex twice tonight, and if Sid was exhausted before, he can hardly move now. Zhenya chuckles into Sid’s hair.

“No more sex tonight,” he promises. “But I still give you present.”

“I thought sex was your present?”

“Only half.”

“Zhenya—” Zhenya kisses Sid into silence before he can continue to protest.

“Is nice present. Promise.” Sid hums in thought before rolling his eyes and grinning.

“Ok, fine.” Zhenya untangles himself from Sid’s sweaty limbs and runs to the dresser, grabbing the present and jumping on the bed again to give Sid the gift. Sid sits up and lets the sheets pool around his waist as he stares intently at the box. “What is it?”

“Open and find out.” Sid rolls his eyes before carefully undoing the wrapping paper and sliding the box out. He’s immediately hit with the very familiar smell of vanilla and cinnamon before he even opens the flaps of the box. He laughs when he finally sees that his suspicions are correct. He looks up at Zhenya.

“You got me a bath bomb,” he tries to unsuccessfully deadpan. His grin is too wide to come off bemused. Sid is used to Zhenya buying him bath bombs and bubble bars all the time now, and he appreciates the fact that Zhenya knows his favorites by heart. Zhenya smiles proudly and says:

“Look at it.” Sid obeys and sees that the bath bomb is twice as big as a regular bath bomb normally is. He gapes when he sees that the bath bomb is white with gold and black swirls. “Is made just for you. No other like it.” The thing is definitely bigger than Zhenya’s fist. It’s so pretty-looking that Sidney almost doesn’t want to use it.

“It’s amazing, Zhenya.” He gives Zhenya a kiss on the cheek. “If I would have known that you had gotten this for me, I would’ve bought you something.”

“No, this is for you. Now we test it.” Sid quirks an eyebrow.

“We? Since when did you start using bath bombs?”

“Oh, Sid, I’m full of surprises.” Sidney laughs loudly until the dreaded goose honk surfaces.

“Sure you are, Zhenya. If anything, you’re more predictable than me.” Zhenya gasps dramatically, almost like he’s offended. Before he can retort, Sidney is crawling out of the bed, bath bomb in hand. “Well, come on, Zhenya. I’m really in need of a shower, and I can’t wait to see how cool this thing looks.” Zhenya isn’t going to argue with Sid there. He’s hot on Sidney’s heels.

* * *

The bath bomb turns out to look really awesome with all the gold shimmering in the blue-tinted gray water of the tub. The bomb is still disintegrating while Sid sits opposite from Zhenya, facing the man he’s been in love with for six years now. They sit and talk about their highly anticipated trip to the Maldives in two weeks, about the baby Penguins and how well they did this season, about Tanger coming back next season, and so many other things. Everything is peaceful.

Then a plastic ball comes up from the water.

Sidney’s eyebrows furrow together as he looks at the clear orb floating in the middle of the tub. It’s holding a small, teal box inside. Sidney looks up at his boyfriend. “Zhenya? What is this?” Zhenya gnaws on his lip nervously.

“Your real present” is all he replies with before gesturing for Sid to take the orb and open it. Sid cautiously opens the orb and takes the box in his hand. As soon as he sees the Tiffany & Co. branding on top of the box, Sid’s heart stops. He slowly looks up at Zhenya with wide, shiny eyes. There is only one reason why Zhenya would buy something from Tiffany & Co. “Zhenya—”

“Open it, Sid.” Zhenya hates how his voice is starting to falter slightly, but he is too nervous to care.

Sid swallows the lump in his throat. He takes a shuddering breath and opens the box. What looks to be a velvet box to hold a ring in is sitting right there in Sidney’s hand. The tears begin to well up in his eyes. He shakily pops open the top to reveal a slightly thin band made of solid white gold, diamonds encircling the middle of the entire ring. It’s so simple and yet so beautiful. Sid is smiling and his tears are blurring his vision.

“Sidnyushka.” Sid snaps his head up at the affectionate nickname that Zhenya calls him during the sweetest moments. Zhenya looks close to tears, too, so Sid doesn’t feel bad anymore for feeling like a total crybaby. “Sidnyushka, I love you. I love you so much. Want to spend rest of my life with you. No one else. You most important to me. More than hockey. You everything I need. So please, Sidnyushka—” Zhenya gently takes the ring out of the box with one hand and holds Sid’s left hand with the other. _Oh god,_ Sidney thinks. _It’s really happening._ He nods for Zhenya to keep going, to ask already. Zhenya smiles small.

“Will you marry me?”

Sidney giggles and nods his head. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Zhenya.” The grin on Zhenya’s face is painful, but Zhenya doesn’t care. He slips the ring onto Sidney’s ring finger and braces himself for when Sidney shifts in the water to sit himself in Zhenya’s lap, using Zhenya’s neck for leverage. Zhenya’s arms immediately wrap themselves around Sidney’s waist, effectively holding him in place. The kiss is a little rough, but neither of them care. Zhenya doesn’t think he will ever get used to having Sidney in his arms like this every day for the rest of his life. But he is definitely looking forward to it. “I love you, Zhenya,” Sidney murmurs into Zhenya’s mouth.

“God, I love you. So much.” Zhenya smiles into another kiss.

“Love you, too, Sidnyushka.” _More than you will ever know,_ he doesn’t say. He has a lifetime to tell Sidney how much he loves him. And he can’t wait.


End file.
